Changes
by crazytomboy78
Summary: In this prequel to Scary Thoughts, Becky's life is turned upside-down when things begin to change between her and Tobey, and her parents don't like it one bit! Can Becky get her parents to approve of her budding friendship with Tobey, or will it all be ruined? Can Becky handle this and the difficulty of realizing that she belongs to two places, or is it all too much?
1. Consolation

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the sky had few clouds in it. It was another normal day in Fair City; that is, for everyone but Becky Bottsford, AKA Wordgirl.

Fourteen year old Becky Bottsford was walking through the park, arms crossed and head pointed to the ground. Feeling very upset and alone, Becky just wanted some time to herself to think about stuff, but alas, she wouldn't get her wish today.

On the other side of the park, Tobey McAllister was also enjoying a quiet stroll through the park when their paths unexpectedly crossed.

Becky looked up as she walked and stopped in her tracks when she saw Tobey standing in front of her.

"Oh…hi Tobey." Becky said, trying not to sound bitter.

"Hello Becky." Tobey responded. Becky looked back down to the ground. Tobey, noticing Becky's unusually quiet and crestfallen demeanor, became curious and concerned.

"What's wrong? You look sad." He asked.

"Why do you care?" Becky asked sourly, looking up to Tobey. Tobey was silent for a moment in response, as he knew why she was so bitter towards him.

"Okay, so it's not my place to ask, given that we aren't exactly friends," Tobey began.

"We _aren't _friends." Becky interrupted.

"Right. But even if you do think I am a despicable human being, that doesn't mean I can't have at least an ounce of humanity. I was just wondering, is all." Tobey explained.

"Why would you? I thought all you care about is destroying stuff with your robots in a useless attempt to win over the affections of someone who's way out of your league." Becky said.

"Usually that's true. But lately, I don't know…I've sorta been questioning myself." Tobey said. Becky was struck by the amount of honesty and sincerity in his eyes when he said that. "Look, I realize this is none of my business, I'm sorry. I'll just leave you alone now." Tobey said as he walked past Becky.

Becky, hung up on how kind he looked, turned to him.

"Okay, if you want to know, I'll tell you." Becky said, closing her eyes as she spoke.

Tobey stopped and turned with a look of surprise on his face. He didn't say anything, but instead listened.

Becky, with arms still crossed, began to explain.

"I've been having a bad day, I don't want to get into many details. Let's just say I was caught up in a task all day and I forgot that I was supposed to meet my family to go out for dinner. My dad's been trying to get my family to have some bonding time, so when I missed it, he was pretty ticked off, which means my mom was too." Becky explained.

"Oh. Well, it was an honest mistake. It's not like you're going to let it happen again." Tobey said.

"That's just the thing, 'it' happening again isn't something I have control over." Becky said as she looked down to the ground again.

"Are you sure that's all? You seem pretty upset." Tobey asked.

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Becky snapped.

"Alright, I respect your wishes. I'll leave you alone now." Tobey said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away. Becky watched him as he did so, surprised by the friendly side she had just seen in him.

But of course, Becky's problems were much more serious than she made them out to be. Having been stuck in an all-day marathon of brawls with various villains, she was too busy to realize that she had completely missed her father's weekly family night, which yes, consisted of going out to a restaurant for dinner.

It wasn't out of the ordinary for Wordgirl, but seeing as this had been going on for several years, Becky was getting sick and tired of it being normal. She was sick and tired of missing out on her family, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

But what got to her most was Tobey. Her whole life, she thought of him as malicious, no good, and as someone who would never enjoy the life of someone who was good. But the Tobey she saw earlier…was different than that. He was caring, friendly…warm, someone who seemed like a good friend to have. What scared her the most was that she saw a friend in him that she wanted to keep.

But she quickly shook that thought out of her head and continued her walk.

~…~

Tobey let out a sigh of exhaustion as he walked away. He looked back over his shoulder and watched as Becky walked away. Yes, he still did the whole destroy-with-robot scene, but lately he had been rethinking himself. It wasn't something he wanted to do, it was something that just…happened. It happened without his say so, without him wanting it to happen.

Why did it happen? It's simple, really. Years of trying to win the affections of Wordgirl, and after years of failing miserably had finally begun to get to him. His conscience told him that maybe she wasn't interested, that maybe he should forget about it. Tobey only partly listened to these thoughts. Part of him still wanted to destroy, to get her attention so he could ask her on a date, show her that she could fall for a guy like him. There was still a part of him that had hope.

But then there was the other side of him, the still-budding good side of him. And it seemed to come out whenever Becky came around. It came out when he saw her in school, but didn't have the guts to approach her. It came out when she approached him to tease him about his latest scheme, when he saw that bright, sparkling smile on her face. He would look at those big, deep brown eyes and a feeling would come up that he couldn't ignore; a feeling that told him he should give up his life of crime, and just be with Becky.

_That _part of him was starting to take over. But he _didn't _like it.

**Yeah, so, this show is giving me **_**ideas.**_** And I love it! Okay, okay, so this one was spawned from Scary Thoughts, but still, a story is a story. Aw, this one's gonna be so much fun to write! XD**


	2. Confused

Becky walked through the front door to her house later that day, sighing sadly as she endured her parents' upset, angry glares as she made her way to the couch.

Before she sat down, however, Becky turned to her parents.

"Look, I'm sorry I missed Bottsford family dinner night, I really truly regret missing it, but I was downtown a-and Wordgirl was blocking the exit out of downtown. She was really locked in battle today. It wasn't my fault, I wanted to make it, I really did. I'm really sorry, can't you forgive me?" Becky said hopefully.

"How can we believe you when we've heard that excuse before? Becky, were not idiots. If you didn't want to be a family with us, you could've just let us know." Tim said solemnly. Becky let out a deep sigh. Somehow she knew that would be their response.

"Guys, that's not true. Not by a long shot. I really wish I could tell you the truth, the real reason why I'm always missing stuff like this, but I just can't! I really wish you guys could know so you could understand that it's not my fault I'm always late to everything. But the fact is I just can't tell you. If I told you, it'd change your lives. You wouldn't look at me the same if you knew." Becky explained. She watched in misery as her father shook his head at her, still brimming with disapproval. Becky sighed and brushed past them, her head hanging low as she did so.

~…~

The next day, Becky and Bob were walking to school. Becky was distracted, as she was very often, so when she kept walking past the bus stop, Bob knew there was definitely something on her mind.

"Becky, is something wrong?" Bob squeaked. Becky snapped out of her train of thought and turned to Bob, then sighed.

"Oh, it's the thing with my parents last night. They hate me now, I know it, and it's all because I can't tell them I'm Wordgirl." Becky explained.

"You can't? You're sure of that?" Bob asked.

"I _know _I can't. If I told them, they'd be all over me telling me how cool they think it is that I'm a superhero, and they'd always see me as their superhero daughter- or sister- and not as Becky. They'd constantly give me special treatment that I don't want…a-and if they knew I was Wordgirl, they'd always want to help me fight crime and that's just not something I'd ever let them do, because they could get hurt. Plus villains would be after them, and the entire thing would just be too dangerous. They _can't_ know. _But I wish they could_…" Becky explained.

Bob was silent for a moment as he nodded. He understood Becky's hesitation to tell her parents, and he knew it was a big thing to share, as he knew that she hadn't even told her best and closest friend, Violet about her secret identity (and he knew how badly she wanted to). But even having gotten that off her chest, Bob couldn't help but notice that it seemed as though there was a lot more on her mind than that.

"Are you sure that that's the only thing that's bugging you?" Bob squeaked. Becky let out a long, deep sigh. From that alone, Bob knew there was definitely something else that was really bugging her.

"Well, it's this thing that happened yesterday, when I was taking a walk to clear my head." Becky started. "I was upset because of the stuff that happened between my parents and I, and the person I least expected, and this was the last person I wanted to see at that moment, actually _helped_ me. I mean, he didn't give me much advice, and I only felt a little better after talking to him, but still…him being there…it just made me see a different side of him. A side I hadn't cared to see before." Becky explained as she hugged her books close to her chest. Her tone was soft, dreamy even.

"Who did you talk to?" Bob asked.

"Well, here's the weird part…I talked to Tobey." Becky explained.

"I thought you hated him?" Bob asked, recalling the history between the two that went all the way back to when they were ten years old.

"I do, he irks me in every way possible. He's arrogant, he's a jerk, and he's immature…not to mention he's managed to rub me the wrong way ever since I first bothered to talk to him when I was younger. Oh, and he tried to destroy my house about ten times." Becky explained, her tone filled with anger.

"You know what the weirdest part was, though? I-I think I saw Tobey's good side...and I didn't completely hate it." Becky said, more calmly. The thought sent shivers down her spine.

"Tobey, a good side? Becky, you're seeing things that aren't there. Tobey is a villain, and what's worse is he has something new to bug you about every day. He's annoying and you hate him, remember?" Bob responded. He knew that the tension between them was just each of them denying their feelings for the other, but for now, she figured she'd just tell Becky what she figured she wanted to hear, and let Becky work it out on her own when she's ready. Plus, sprinkling in some reverse psychology in the process wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah, I know that, but I just don't know right now. The Tobey I was talking to was...different. Kinder, more caring, more of a friend than I thought I'd be willing to see in him. I think he's beginning to change." Becky said.

"Becky, did you fall on your head? Tobey, the kid who destroys stuff all the time, he's not a friend to us. At least not to the one who's secretly Wordgirl." Bob squeaked. Becky sighed.

"I just...I don't know what to think." Becky said. "I was so cold towards him, all he wanted to do was help. I feel bad…maybe I should apologize?"

"Look, Becky, I'm not going to sit here and tell you what you should or shouldn't do. All I can say is you should do whatever your heart tells you." Bob said. At that moment, the school bus pulled up, and Bob walked inside, leaving Becky baffled.

Becky took a seat on the bus next to Violet, looking over her shoulder to see Tobey sitting two seats behind her, minding his own business. As she gazed over her shoulder at him, she noticed that he didn't have his usual look of arrogance and disdain on his face, but instead he was sporting a look that suggested he was tired of being arrogant and filled with disdain for others, that all he wanted to do was sit there and stare out the window. That he just wanted to have a day where he didn't get on anyone's nerves.

Becky suddenly remembered that he had been attacking things with robots significantly less than he usually did. Usually he would make an attempt to destroy something at least once a day, but now his attacks had lowered to maybe twice a week, sometimes three. And whenever he did attack something, he didn't have his usual vigor and excitement. He seemed to be just doing it because he had done it so many times that it was routine now, and it was something he felt he had to keep doing. But the look on his face suggested he was tired of feeling as though he had to attack the city so constantly.

Becky moved back two seats and sat across the aisle from him.

"Hey," She said quietly, staring down at her feet. "I just wanted to say sorry for snapping at you yesterday. I know you were only trying to help, and I was just a little surprised, since you usually do nothing but annoy me. I actually appreciated having someone to talk to about it, and I appreciate that you stepped up and was nice. I was just angry and upset, I didn't mean to sound so mean and all that."

Then, Becky looked straight into his eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tobey looked at her with complete innocence, his eyes a bit wide in wonder. He certainly hadn't expected _this _to happen today.

"You know, when you want to be, you can be a good friend. You should just want to be one more often, because I like the good you _a lot more_ than the evil you." She said, proceeding to get up and walk back to her seat next to Violet. Bob and Violet concealed a smile, as they had listened to every word Becky had said, and knew that things between them were finally going to change.

Tobey smiled as he stared ahead at Becky. The gesture was certainly unexpected, but it certainly had managed to make his day, as well as making him think about everything she had just said for the rest of the day.

**I'm so excited for this prequel! It's my first prequel, like ever, and I'm having fun with it! XD bahah. Anyways. See you all next chapter, my lovelies :3**

**PS- yes, I'm giving you all a treat by posting the last chapter of Scary Thoughts two days after posting the second to last chapter, and then posting the second chapter to the prequel to that story (if that makes any sense)…you're welcome XD**


	3. Thinking

Later that afternoon, after school, Tobey was traipsing into downtown on the shoulder of one of his robots. His mind was elsewhere; Becky's words from this morning were stuck in his head.

_You know, when you want to be, you can be a good friend. _

A good friend. That's the version of himself that had escaped yesterday when he had seen a forlorn Becky wandering through the park; the saddest look on her face. He had just _had _to know what was bothering such a spunky, intelligent, smiley young woman.

_You should just want to be one more often, because I like the good you a lot more than the evil you._

_That _part of her statement made him think a lot more. _What's so great about being good?_ _I've tried it before, and didn't like it. It didn't work out. So is it really worth a second shot?_

Tobey pressed a button on his remote that made the robot smash some buildings.

"At it again, are we? Aren't you the least bit bored with this?" Wordgirl said as she came zooming into save the day, as usual.

This time, however, her arrival didn't put a smile on his face, or an expression of joy in his eyes. Wordgirl knew something was eating him.

"Oh, hello Wordgirl." He said boredly, not even attempting to spit back a witty response.

_What's with him?_ Becky thought.

Wordgirl ignored her desire to ask what was wrong and destroyed his robot.

"Only one today, eh?" She asked, in an effort to get the Tobey she knew and despised to come back.

"What can I say, I'm just not feeling it today." Tobey said as he looked to the ground, his hands in his pockets, and scuffing his shoes along the roof of the building his robot had placed him on.

"Why, what's bugging you?" She asked, mentally smacking herself for sounding as though she cared.

Tobey looked at her in confusion.

"Why do you care?" He asked. "I thought you hated me."

"What, I'm not allowed to be sympathetic of you every once in a while? After all, you helped m- I mean, uh, um…my…my f-friend Becky the other day, I figured I'd return the favor for her? Yeah, let's go with that. Besides, I don't _hate _you, I-" Wordgirl said, stopping herself before she spilled her innermost thoughts to him.

Tobey looked at her, his eyes wide with innocence and curiosity. He _wanted _to hear what she had stopped herself from saying. But once he saw her shake the thought from her head, he let it go.

"Oh, she told you about that. You know, for an average girl, I find it weird who she gets chummy with. Not only is she friends with a superhero, but she's friends with a monkey as well." Tobey said, thinking aloud. "But that's beside the point. Yes, I helped her out a little yesterday, but that's only because she seemed so sad. I couldn't help myself." Tobey explained.

"Yes, well, you seem sad, so I just can't help but try and make you feel better." Wordgirl spat out, not even thinking about what she was saying.

Tobey looked at her in surprise.

"Really?" He asked. Becky, realizing what she had said, blushed and folded her arms behind her back.

"S-sure, why not." She responded shyly.

"Well, if you must know, I'm not sad, I'm just stuck on something. A side of me that I didn't know existed came out yesterday when I was talking to Becky, and she said something that I really can't shake from my mind." Tobey explained.

"Well, you know, Becky _was _impressed at your friendliness. She said that if you were like that more often, she'd be more willing to be your friend." Wordgirl explained.

"Did she really?" Tobey asked. Wordgirl nodded.

"You know, those times when we teamed up, I saw that side of you come out. I saw a friend that was worth having. A friend that, if he tried, could be worth a lot to someone. He was pretty cool, too. A-and I liked that Tobey a lot better as well." Wordgirl explained.

"Really?" Tobey asked quietly. Becky merely nodded, her blush growing rosier. The two were silent for a long moment.

In that moment, however, Becky felt something she'd never felt before. A feeling that scared her more than anything. Something she never thought she'd feel. The feeling wouldn't go away, either; no matter how hard she tried to shoo it away. Her heart began to pound in her chest, her hands were sweaty, her mind was racing…

She saw more good in him than she had ever cared to see before. And it made her want to like him.

And _that _was the _fiercely_ scary part.

She couldn't stand to be in that long, lingering moment anymore. She had to get away from him. So before anyone could utter another word, Becky zoomed off to the spaceship hideout.

Her chest heaved as she caught her breath as she lied down on the couch in the library. She placed her hand over her racing heart.

Bob came into the library to see a panicked Becky. He approached her, squeaking out a question.

"Oh, Bob, it was the freakiest thing I've ever experienced. I was downtown, defeating Tobey's robot, when we got to talking. We were talking about how he would be better off if he was good, because Becky would like him more, and so would I, and I just got so carried away with the conversation that…that…" Becky stopped to take a deep breath.

"Oh, I felt the strongest, scariest desire to _let_ myself _like _him. It was _awful_. My heart won't stop racing, either. Ugh, how do I get this stupid feeling to _go away_?!" Becky said, panicked.

Bob squeaked a response.

"What do you mean, just _let _myself like him? I can't do that, he's evil! I defeat his robots every day, I can't be _friends _with a guy like that! What will people think of me? I won't seem like much of a hero people can trust." Becky said. "I mean, how much would you trust a hero to protect you if they were also friends with their enemy?"

Bob squeaked again.

"Bob, you're talking crazy right now. There's no way I'd be friends with him. He would have to change for good for that to happen. And I think we both know that that's never going to happen." Becky said sadly.

Bob squeaked.

"What do you mean, he's changing right now? You really think I should _help _him change?" Becky asked. "You must not know how much I _hate _these feelings. Each day, I have to face him, and each day, I have to feel these stupid feelings that tell me that I like him, that I want to be his friend, maybe even more. And day in and day out I have to push these feelings down so I can go on protecting the city, because a superhero can't be seen being friends with a villain. I hate it so much, but I can't even control it sometimes. Sometimes he just brings out this side of me and I can't control myself, and I start acting nice to him. I hate it, I hate that I like him. I hate that I have to hate him. I hate everything about this!"

The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Bob didn't know how to respond to that, so he instead just decided that now may be a good time to drop the subject. He saw that now was obviously not the correct time to tell Becky what he really thought of her relationship with Tobey.

"Look, I don't want to think about this anymore. I need to get home anyways…and face my _other _problem." Becky said, getting up and flying them both home. "Ugh, why's my life full of problems?"

Bob sighed as he watched his friend shuffle away miserably.

~…~

Tobey laid out on his bed, letting out a large sigh.

_Why does everyone feel the need to tell me that I should go good?_ He thought. _I've tried this, remember?_

_**If I may interfere here, Tobey, I'd like to make an observation.**_Said the narrator.

"What's that?" Tobey responded.

_**Well, remember back when you were ten and you tried going good and ended up destroying everything in a fit of rage just because you didn't get the girl right away and didn't win the contest?**_

"Unfortunately."

_**Well, I think you were just being too impatient. What you didn't see was Wordgirl thinking that maybe you were changed after all. She was beginning to believe in you, but you gave up on it too soon. I saw the look in her eyes that day. She knew in her heart that you're capable of change, but you proved her wrong b**_**y **_**attacking the city again.**_The narrator said.

"Wait, you really saw that?" Tobey asked.

_**Of course I did, I'm the narrator. I see everything.**_

Tobey was silent in thought.

"She admitted to this aloud?" He asked.

_**Yup. She shook off the thought quickly, but I could see her fighting herself over it.**_

Tobey let a small smile escape his lips.

Maybe if I gave it another shot…

"Toobey, it's time for diinner!" Claire called from downstairs. Tobey jumped off his bed and made his way downstairs.

Once he sat down at the dinner table with his mother, picking at his meal, his goodness issue came back to mind.

"Mother, can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Certainly, what's up?" Claire asked.

"Well, it's about a girl I know. We usually don't get along well at all, but lately we seem to have forgotten about that a little. Now I don't know if I want to embrace the side of me that can't stand her or whether to listen to the side that wants to be her friend." Tobey explained. Claire nodded. She knew that he was talking about Becky. He had marched into the house, day in and day out, complaining about the latest things she had done to irk him. But each of those times, she saw that look in his eyes that showed the feelings he was hiding. The feelings that he wanted so badly to express, but instead buried, because he didn't believe in himself enough to pursue them.

"Tobey, darling, I think that's something you need to find out for yourself. I can't speak for your heart." Claire said.

"Aw, come on, at least a hint?" Tobey begged. Claire giggled.

"I think you misunderstand my point. I _don't_ _know_ what your heart is telling you, Tobey, you have to figure out how you feel about Becky for yourself." Claire said. Tobey's eyes widened and his cheeks reddened.

"I-I never said it was Becky?" He said, panicked. Claire stood up and patted her son's head.

"You didn't need to." She walked back into the kitchen. Tobey went back to eating his food, now thinking about his mother's advice, on top of all the advice everyone else had given him.

**Sooo yeah. Here's another chapter…decided to spend the last day of summer enjoying having nothing to do all day…*sigh***


	4. Don't Know What to Think

Becky quietly entered her house, hoping no one would pay any mind to her. But her family heard the door shut, and gave her disappointed glances, as usual. Becky sighed and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV. Slumping in her seat, she flipped through all the channels.

"Where were you _this_ time?" Sally asked begrudgingly.

"Just out, why?" Becky asked. She _couldn't _have missed something _again. _

"Because you haven't spent any quality time with us in _weeks_. We were hoping you'd be home today so we could have another Bottsford family outing. But you reminded us that you're too good for us." Sally explained. "Thanks."

"_What_? It's not like that, not at all!" Becky said, sitting up on the couch. "Guys, I didn't know. If you wanted me to spend time with you you could've told me to free up my afternoon. I would've been more than happy to."

"Yeah, sure. We believe that." TJ said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, arms folded.

"Come on, guys. You really think I'd rather spend time trying to _not_ be friends with _Tobey_ than to spend time with my family?" Becky asked.

"Oh, great, now she's buddies with villains! What's next, Becky, robbing the bank? Are you going to become a sidekick to a super villain now?" Tim said. Becky scoffed in her head and held back from telling them she'd never be a sidekick to anyone. That moment passed quickly, however, and Becky now wondered something else.

"What? Now hang on a moment, just because I was talking to Tobey doesn't mean I'm running with a bad crowd. He's not a bad kid once you give him a chance. Once you're just friendly to him, he's actually kind and sweet…" Becky explained, now thinking of how much she liked his kindness. The _last_ thing she thought she'd ever do was defend _Tobey_. But she had a point to prove.

"Sure, we'll believe that when pigs fly." Tim scoffed. Becky sighed.

"Look, I'm home now, why don't we do something together?" Becky offered.

"I suppose we could still go out for dinner." Sally said reluctantly.

"That's the spirit. Look, I love you guys, and I hate that I'm always so busy. I _want_ to spend more time with you guys. Let's just forget about all of this and spend time together." Becky said, standing up from the couch and heading out the door with her family.

~…~

At the restaurant, the Bottsfords were waiting for their food when it got quiet between them. Becky was stuck on the earlier argument about Tobey having good in him. She understood why they disliked and distrusted him, but _why_ they didn't believe her when she said she saw good in him, was beyond her. It wasn't _terribly_ unlikely, was it?

_Maybe they just need to spend enough time with him to see what I see…_

At the moment Becky realized what she had been thinking. It _scared_ her. The boy who, for _years_, had been the person she despised most in the world. And now she was _defending _him? _What is _wrong_ with me?_

"Okay, okay, look. I know I've been a crappy daughter lately and I know you don't like Tobey, but the fact is that there are changes going on in my life, and its been hard for everyone. I don't like it any more than you do, but there are things happening in my life that I can't avoid. The truth is that lately I've been feeling like I'm drifting away from you guys. I feel like I'm just too different from you guys to ignore now. As you know, I was adopted, so I was bound to feel this way sometime. I'm sorry that I'm going through stuff right now, but for now we all just have to suck it up." Becky explained.

They were all silent in shock.

"B-Becky, we had no idea. If we had known that you were going through this stuff, we wouldn't have expressed such anger towards your missing out on spending time with us. If you had just come to us about this sooner, Becky, you could've felt a lot better." Sally said.

"We knew you'd go through this eventually, I mean, _we_ don't even know where you come from. But you should know that you should feel free to explore these feelings. If you need time on your own to think about things, you just let us know." _Tim said. Becky smiled._

_"You guys are the best, you know that?" Becky said. Her parents smiled and nodded._

_"We love you, honey, no matter who you were before us." Sally said. _

_"Oh, and I know you guys aren't crazy about me talking to Tobey, and believe me, I'm not either, but it's part of what I'm going through. He was actually a good friend to me when I needed one, and its caused me to have to think some stuff over. I'm not asking you to like him, I'm not even sure how I feel. I'm just asking you to not completely hate him." Becky said._

_"If you can prove it somehow, we'll give him a second chance. But until then, it's not likely."_

_~…~_

_The next day, at school, Becky and Violet were sitting in study hall, talking._

_"So, you remember how my parents were mad at me for missing family night?" Becky asked. Violet nodded._

_"Well, we talked about it last night, and I told them that it's just been tough on everyone because I'm going through stuff right now, and they totally understand. We're all better now." Becky explained. _

_"Going through what kind of stuff?" Violet asked, confused. Becky hesitated to answer. She didn't give this information lightly, but Violet deserved to know._

_"Well, I don't really tell people this, but I'm adopted." Becky paused to let that part sink in. Violet's eyes grew a bit wide. _

_"Really? All this time, I had just assumed you were biologically related to your parents. I mean, its easily believable…I had no idea." Violet said in shock. _

_"Yeah. Well lately I've been feeling…I don't know, really just…different from them. I get the feeling that there's a place somewhere that I've never seen that I'd feel more like the missing puzzle piece they've been looking for." Becky explained. _

_"I had no idea you felt this way. How long has this been going on?" Violet asked._

_"Not very long, its pretty recent. But I'll lay awake at night just thinking about it for hours." Becky explained._

_"Becky , if you feel the need to explore the world and find out where you really come from, then now is the time to do so. You never act on your emotions, Becky, and it causes you to be stuck on things for a long time, it becomes all you think about. For once I wish you'd just stop thinking and do something about your feelings." Violet said. Becky gave her a confused look._

_"Are we still talking about me being adopted or is this about something entirely different?" Becky asked._

_"It can work for this subject too." Violet said. She was really thinking about Becky's denying her feelings for Tobey, but it wasn't the right time to bring it up. _

_Becky shrugged._

_"Well, now's not the right time to leave. I'm only fourteen years old, I'm not nearly old enough to go exploring the world on my own, and I don't want my parents coming along, because this is definitely something I need to do on my own, if I ever do it. Besides, I could never spend that much time away from Fair City, I have a very important duty that I can't just abandon." Becky explained, not giving her words a second thought._

_"What duties?" Violet asked, confused._

_"Oh- you know, school...i'm sure there's other stuff…" Becky said, realizing she couldn't say any more._

_"Then just do it during the summer?" Violet suggested. _

_"Look, I just can't right now, okay?" Becky said, getting up and asking permission to go to the bathroom._

_Once in the bathroom, Becky went to a sink and turned the cold water on. Cupping some in her hands, she splashed the water on her face and dried it off with a paper towel._

_Calm down Becky, you can't break down here. Not in the middle of school. Not now._

_Once Becky walked out of the bathroom, she bumped into Tobey walking down the hall._

_"Oh, hey Tobey." Becky said, folding her arms and blushing._

_"Hello Becky." Tobey said quietly. Becky's mind was torn in two. Part of her wanted to smile at him and be his friend and asked why he seemed kind of down, but part of her also wanted to sigh in annoyance because the mere sight of him annoyed her. She didn't know which thought to go with, and it was causing her too much stress. All she knew right now was that she needed to get away from him for a while._

_Becky brushed past him and walked back to her study hall to rest her head on the desk and think. It seemed that, at that moment, everything in her life was way too complicated for one person to deal with._

_**Weird, cheesy place to stop, I know. I just kind of threw some individual, short thoughts together and called it a chapter…I'll think through the next chapter a little more. Its also been hard to be so creative since school has started…): :P whatevvs, I'm making it work. So see you around the reviews :D**_


	5. Quality Time

Becky was sitting in study hall the next day, resting her head on her desk (she would be doing homework, but she finished it all in the first five minutes of study hall and was now bored). Her mind was stuck on a few things that had happened recently; the most dominant thought being her conversation with Violet the other day. The way she made everything she said have a double meaning, as if she secretly knew about one of the biggest problems plaguing her mind.

But that wasn't what was getting to Becky at the moment. It was the way she had snapped at the quiet blonde girl when they talked that bugged her. She didn't mean to come across as harsh, she just didn't want to talk about the topic anymore; it was too confusing. She wanted to tell Violet about her secret identity, because she deserved to know, but at the same time she was scared out of her mind to tell her, because it could put her in danger.

But would Violet ever really be in danger if Becky knew full well that she was capable of protecting her?

No, no, because there could be a time where she just plain couldn't save her. There were times like that in every great superhero's life, and Violet was too good a friend to risk something like that.

Across the room, Tobey was closing his math textbook as he finished his own homework when he looked up to see Becky drop her head down onto the desk as if she were miserable. Tobey got up and sat down next to her.

"Is everything okay, Becky?" Tobey asked. Becky raised her head and looked over to him. Seeing him sitting next to her, with concern written in his eyes, made her mind race.

_Why does he even care? Why does he always seem concerned about me when I get sad or angry? What happened to the little kid that hated me and loved to see me fail? Ugh, why does life have to be so complicated?_

"Becky? Beeeckyy? Earth to Becky?" Tobey said as he watched Becky just gaze at him in wonder. Becky shook off her gaze quickly.

"Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine. Just dandy." Becky said angrily.

"You don't sound too fine." Tobey said. Becky grunted.

"Ugh, I _hate_ _my life_!" Becky whined, dropping her head on her desk again.

"Why? You have no reason to hate your life, you're an extraordinary person." Tobey said. Becky lifted her head slowly and looked over to him. Sincerity and friendship were written deep in his eyes, and she could tell he was dead serious.

"W-what?" She said quietly.

"Why, take a look at yourself. You're very intelligent, athletic, beautiful, good-hearted, and sweet. Anyone would be crazy to not like you." Tobey said with a smile that just about melted Becky's heart- which, of course, pissed her off beyond belief. _Why do I have to want to like him so much?_

But instead of her anger boiling over, it instead subsided and was replaced by a rosy red blush on her cheeks and a quiet giggle escaping her lips; it faded quickly once a thought came to her mind.

"You didn't." She said quietly. Tobey was silent for a long moment.

"I didn't? I didn't, you say?" Tobey said with a smile.

"Becky, I was a stupid, juvenile, idiotic young boy! I didn't know squat about who I liked and who I didn't like when I was younger. But I grew and I learned, and I learned how stupid I was. I realized somewhere along the road that just because I wanted to destroy your house a few times and wanted to piss you off all the time doesn't mean I didn't like you. In fact, it means I was trying not to like you but in reality I was just fooling myself." Tobey paused.

"The thing is, Becky, I've thought about this many times. I've thought about why I didn't like you, thought what about you seemed to rub me the wrong way, and you know what I came up with?" Tobey asked. Becky, in stunned silence, shook her head no. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I thought and I thought about everything about you and I couldn't think of a single thing that I didn't like about you. And then it hit me: that was my problem right there. I was just lying to myself for years. I was trying to convince myself that I didn't like you, because I couldn't like you. But I know now that I was being stupid. There are so many reasons for you and everyone that knows you to love you, and I don't know why you don't see any of them. You're so wonderful."

Tobey was silent as he smiled at her. Becky's eyes were wide in shock. She was so taken back by his speech that she couldn't think of a single thing to say in return. Instead she just stared into his deep blue eyes and watched them, all full of smiles and sincerity, and so full of hope that it couldn't all fit in those big old eyes of his.

She wanted to ask him how he could be so upbeat and positive about everything, but it was clear enough right then that he was a very happy, hopeful, optimistic boy.

"No guy has ever been as good to me as you are." Becky said quietly.

Tobey leaned in close to Becky and whispered something.

"_Well then none of those boys deserve someone as wonderful as you."_

Becky looked over to him, eyes wide and cheeks rosy. He had a smile on his face. His eyes were happy.

Becky leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. As the bell rang, the two stood up and Becky gave him a tight hug before running off.

As she ran out of the classroom, Becky's heart raced and it felt as though it was pounding so hard it was going to come out of her chest.

_Every time, _she thought, _every time he opens his mouth he makes my heart skip a beat. How does he manage to do this?_

"Becky? Becky, wait up!" She heard someone call out from behind her. She turned around to see Tobey, running towards her with a lot of books in his arms.

"You forgot your books in study hall." He said with a goofy smile on his face. Becky smiled as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Oh, thanks." She said, reaching for them.

"Wait, where's your next class? I'll carry them for you." Tobey offered.

"Oh- uh, okay." Becky said as they began walking to Becky's class.

"So why did you race out of there so fast?" He asked.

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that, things have been tough lately." Becky explained.

"What could ever be wrong with such a perfect person?" Tobey asked. Becky blushed.

"Well, it's just stuff at home. It's not a big deal, it's just been giving me a bit of a hard time lately. I don't really want to talk about it." Becky explained.

"I shouldn't worry about a lot of things that I worry about, but that doesn't stop me." Tobey said. Becky chuckled at the comment. He could be cute sometimes. _And by sometimes, I mean a lot._

The two arrived at Becky's classroom and Becky took her books from Tobey.

"T-thanks for everything, Tobey. I really appreciate all of it." Becky said shyly as she hugged her books tight to her chest. Tobey smiled at her.

"You're welcome. You're so very welcome, madam." Tobey said. Becky smiled and shuffled into her class and sat down, watching as Tobey walked away.

She looked over to her other side to see Violet sitting next to her, arms crossed and a look on her face that said 'what was _that_, miss I-don't-like-him?'.

"What?" Becky said with a smile.

"What is up with you two, anyways?" Violet asked.

"What, me and Tobey? Nothing!" Becky said, unable to wipe the smile from her face.

"Mhm." Violet said.

"I'm serious! We're barely even friends." Becky said.

"Yeah, I'd believe that." Violet said. Before Becky could retort, the teacher began class. So Becky was left to think about what had just happened.

**Sorry this took so long, I've been so busy lately. Plus this took me a couple hours to write cuz I was just watching the most fantastic movie of all time, Forrest Gump. Gets me distracted. But its here now, and I'll be updating more regularly now. So review!**


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